Synovus Financial (SNV+3.4%) CEO Kessel Stelling says comments he made during the most recent earnings call were misconstrued. The bank (oft mentioned as a takeover target) does not "have an acquisition strategy," he says. Chatter following the earnings call "perked up my ears so much that I actually went back to review the transcript myself" - here on SA, hopefully.

"The tank doesn't look empty yet," says Bernstein's John McDonald, speaking about the trend of bank profits benefitting from releases of loss reserves. It is fading though, he allows, and likely to account for about 10% of profit at large and mid-cap banks this year and 1% next year vs. 22% in 2012. At the top of the list of those benefitting sits Bank of America (BAC). Also: Synovus Financial (SNV), Citigroup (C), and PNC.

With consumer loan growth slow and margins slim, the conventional wisdom says C&I loans (and with them better spreads) at banks should be enough to offset. Sterne Agree isn't so sure, sensing accelerating price competition in this area as well. Most susceptible: CMA, SNV, ZION, SIVB, and CYN - with an estimated 9-16% of EPS risk assuming another 50 bps of spread compression.

More on Synovus (SNV -1%) Q1 earnings: Interest income of $199.8M fell about $8M on the quarter thanks to 2 fewer days and NIM declining 2 bps to 3.43%. Noninterest income of $64.7M fell $7.2M, led by mortgage banking income off $2.1M. Core expenses of $163.8M fell $7.6M on the quarter. (presentation slides)

Synovus Financial (SNV) nominates Barry Storey - founder a company owning 13M square feet of strip mall space across the Southeast - to its board. Two board members - Frank Brumley and H. Lynn Page - have reached mandatory retirement age and will not stand for reelection. (PR)

Georgia's Synovus (SNV) has put the pain from bad loans, commercial real estate exposure, and capital raises behind it, says small-cap fund manager David Schuster. While the bank isn't for sale, there is a long list of buyers for whom a purchase would make sense, and the stock trades well south of Schuster's estimate of fair value.

The Treasury reportedly intends to wind down TARP next year by selling its shares in about two-thirds of the 218 banks still left in the program. The other institutions are expected to repay the money they received or restructure investments. The largest bank left in TARP is Synovus Financial (SNV), which owes $967.9M. Under TARP's bank schemes, the Treasury invested over $245B and has recovered $268B.